Bintulu Port wins jobs from oil majors

KUCHING: Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) has secured contracts from major oil and gas (O&G) companies as the company expands its port business to provide base support services for the O&G industry.

Wholly-owned subsidiary Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd has won a five-year contract each from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and Petronas Floating LNG as well as a three-year contract from Murphy Oil Sarawak for the provision of base support services at Bintulu Port, according to BPHB chairman Tan Sri Ali Hamsa.

The services cover the provision of storage areas, including both warehouse and open space, material handling equipment, cargo handling equipment, passenger handling, pilotage as well as container-carrying units.

Ali said Petronas, a Bintulu Port anchor customer, had commenced operations of its new LNG train (Train 9) last June and was slated to start commercial shipments by last month.

The Train 9 adds 3.6 million tonnes per annum to the existing 25.7 million tonnes production capacity, bringing to total 29.3 million tonnes per annum.

Last year, Bintulu Port handled 25.24 million tonnes of liquified natural gas (LNG) cargo, which was 0.6% higher than 2015.

In a yearly review of the group’s performance in 2016, Ali said Bintulu Port recorded a 14% growth in container throughput to 277,711 TEUs (20-foot equivalent unit) against 243,699 TEUs in 2015.

In addition to the O&G sector, he said Bintulu Port would work to capitalise on the timely opportunities in other key growth sectors, like the palm oil industry as well as the bulk and cargo generated from Samalaju Industial Park.

The park is home to energy intensive industries, including alumimium, ferroalloy and manganese smelters set up under Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy initiatives.

He said the Samalaju Industrial Port Phase 1 was scheduled for full operation by June this year.

The new deepsea port currently operates interim facilities to handle cargo vessels carrying loads weighting 8,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT). When Phase 1 is fully operational, this will enable the port to service cargo ships up to 50,000 DWT.

The Samalaju Industrial Port handled slightly over 450,000 tonnes of cargo last year, and the projection is that this will surge to 11.2 million tonnes by 2019.